I have rarely read such a confused letter as that contributed last week, July 30, by Douglas Wathen. Firstly he blames the Labour Government for the increasing national debt whereas (almost) everyone knows that the main responsibility lies with our ‘casino banks’ who risked our economic stability to increase their profits. That isn’t to say the politicians must not also take some of the blame, but so must we all because we are all greedy for a higher standard of living, without caring too much where it comes from.

His second complaint is that unemployment is increasing, but it also clear that it is not as bad in the UK as other wealthier countries because the Government has taken the steps it has to invest in order to shore up a collapsing economy. Without Gordon Brown’s action it could have been a lot worse. Labour has failed to make Britain a more equal society but give it credit where it’s due.

Then if our country is so dreadful why is that many people do indeed want to come here? We are still a very wealthy country, more so than we have even been. Also the number of those coming here are far greater from our European partners – with whom or trade is essential - than from the ‘immigrants around the world’ to which Mr Wathen refers. Actually, as any demographic expert will tell you, we need new and younger immigrants because our population is ageing – too many prospective parents have two full-time careers because they want to go on raising their living standards. An ageing population needs younger workers to support it by the taxes they pay, and all the immigrants I know are very happy to pay taxes as long as they have their fair share of the services they pay for.

Let ‘s just count our blessings, we are extremely fortunate to live in such a rich and stable country, and we should be prepared to share it with those who can contribute positively to our economy. The way forward now is to ‘green’ that economy so we leave our children a decent world to live in.

Revd David Haslam, Evesham